


Play Pretend

by Rainbow_Mess



Series: Solangelo Thingz [52]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28698408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbow_Mess/pseuds/Rainbow_Mess
Summary: Fake dating AU because I'm an absolute whore and it took me 52 works to finally do this AU
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo Thingz [52]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918747
Comments: 8
Kudos: 61





	Play Pretend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greenpinkandbeige](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenpinkandbeige/gifts).



> jausjdihasduavpasni I'm trapped
> 
> caged in the marvel fandom
> 
> *sad enby noises*
> 
> also don't mind if this doesn't make sence i kinda forced myself to write this because i do be having n episode but i'm fine

The Aphrodite campers set up a dance. It started as a way for them to play matchmaker. Of course, Piper hounded Nico.

“For the last time, Piper! I’m. not. Interested.” Nico grit out. He was only there because Hazel wanted to go with Frank, and she didn’t want to go alone. Now he was stuck sitting by the fire, magical goblet full of plain water, and Hazel nowhere to be seen. 

"How about her, then? She's a daughter of Iris. Nice contrast to your dull personality-"

Nico groaned, "Piper. Stop. I don't like girls." he snapped, eyes widening a bit for a moment before remembering how decorated the Aphrodite cabin was during June. He was in safe company. 

Piper's eyes widened, "Ohmygod. I'm so sorry for assuming." her face was red with embarrassment, but she quickly got over herself. "What about Beckendorf?" (because fuck you, he didn't die). 

Nico sighed again letting his face fall into his hands. His mind whirled in surch of a way to get out of this, "I have a boyfriend, Piper."

Oh, shit, that was a bad idea. 

Nico did not, in fact, have a boyfriend. 

Piper squealed, though. "Oh gods, who!?" she asked, remarkably loudly for someone who was whispering moments before. 

"Hush, Piper-" Nico's mind was racing. Jason and Piper had dated, so he was out of the question. Percy had annabeth, Frank and Hazel, Leo fell in love with every girl he saw- Will was bi. Will was single. "Let me just- see if he's here."

Nico ran through the crowd, "Come on, Will-" he muttered to himself, sending out a silent thanks to the gods when he saw the mop of blond hair next to Lou Ellen. "Solace!"

Will looked up immediately, the smile falling from his face, "What happened? Is somebody hurt?"

Nico blushed, "No- I-" he paused, was this a bad idea? Probably. But Nico would rather ruin his friendship with Will a little bit than listen to Piper try and set him up. "I need you to pretend like we're dating. Just for today. Please-"

Will looked taken aback, "What?"

"Piper keeps trying to set me up with girls, so I told her I'm gay and now she's trying to set me up with  _ boys _ and I just want it to stop, so I told her I have a boyfriend, and I  _ don't  _ and now I'm in too deep to get out."

Will blinked a few times, "Okay" he said simply. "Where are we going?" 

Nico frowned, "Just like that?" he asked, "Piper is over by the campfire but-"

Will only smiled, taking Nico's hand, "Let's go, then." he said with a grin. 

Piper's eyes widened when she spotted them, "You're dating Will Solace!?" she whisper-yelled, her smile impossibly wide, "You two would make a good couple-"

Nico blushed again, especially when Will wrapped his arm around his hips, leaning down next to Nico's ear, "What do you want me to say?" he asked quietly, his lips ghosting over Nico's cheek. 

Nico had to fight not to straight up push Will away. This was a terrible idea. 

"Piper, this is Will. My boyfriend"

Oh, that sounded nice. Nico wished he wasn't faking. 

It was kind of confusing when Will's arm snaked tighter around his waist, "Hi, Piper. How are you feeling?" the words were casual, but Will's voice was strained. 

Piper was still grinning triumphantly, "I'm fine, Will. I'll leave you two to it, yeah? I'm gonna go find Percy." she winked at Nico as she walked past. 

Nico looked intently at the ground until she was out of sight. "I'm sorry about that-" he murmured, still confused, because Will wasn't letting go of him. "Thank you, though-"

Will smiled, pulling Nico into a hug and leaving a kiss on his cheek, "Any time, sunshine~" he teased, promptly turning and making his way back to Lou Ellen. 

\----

"Oh my gods, mum. Leave me be."

Naomi Solace laughed from the other end of the landline, "Come on, Will, you rarely even come home. At least bring a girl, even if she's just a friend."

Will groaned quietly, "Ma, I'm not bringing a girl home" he protested, glancing up to make sure nobody was around. 

"A boy then."

Will's mind promptly short-circuited, taking him back to the Aphrodite party. Nico. 

"Oh. I mean…"

Naomi took his reaction and rolled with it, "Yes! Bring your boyfriend! I can make him a room-"

"No, ma-"

"Ohhh, yes, he can sleep in your room, what was I thinking? Bring him, Will. I want to meet him."

Before Will could protest further, Naomi hung up, leaving Will with a disconnected landline and a pretty desperate situation. 

It took him a good 3 days to approach Nico. 

"Hey Neeks?" Will asked, fighting the smile that threatened to spread across his face when Nico popped his head into the doorway of the office in the infirmary. "Do you want to meet my mother?"

Nico's face turned bright red at an alarming rate, and he disappeared back into the room where he was cutting bandages. "I mean- sure? How come?" he sounded nervous, it was endearing. 

"She expects me to bring a girl home. I told her there was no girl. Then I slipped up when she asked if there was a boy, so now she thinks I'm bringing my boyfriend. I know it's awkward and probably really embarrassing, and you really don't have to."

Nico snorted loudly, poking his head out again, "Of course I'll come. I owe you one." he said, a smile replacing the redness on his cheeks. 

Will sighed in relief. "Okay. Yeah, okay." he said softly, "Thank you."

Nico grinned, "Any time, Tesoro." he said with a smile. 

"What does that mean!!?"

Nico only laughed in response, disappearing into the room again. 

\-----

"You're absolutely sure?"

Nico rolled his eyes, wrapping his arms tighter around Will's waist, "Im sure I didn't spend all those hours going over how we got together for nothing. Now hold on."

Will just wrapped his arms around Nico, too, letting him shadow travel from the shady coolness of the woods, all the way to the dry heat of Texas. 

Nico stumbled when they appeared on the Solace's front porch, "I'm good. I'm fine."

Will was fretting over him anyways, "Let's get you inside."

The door was unlocked, so Will knocked and twisted the knob, opening up to the sight of a beaming woman, "Will!" she automatically pulled both boys into her arms. Nico hadn't had a mom hug in such a long time. 

"Ma, leave him be-" Will protested, but he smiled at Naomi's interactions with Nico. She had already adopted him, Will could tell. He almost felt bad for lying. 

"You have bags. Let Will take them up and show you to your room." Will's eyes widened at that, "Yeah, I've got it-"

Nico simply hooked an arm through his, "I'll come with." He offered, "Maybe I can crash for a minute."

Will frowned a bit, "Do you need anything? It's been a while since you jumped that far-" he fretted over Nico for a moment before Naomi cleared her throat. 

"Will, just take him to your room-"

Will blushed, but nodded, "Uh- yeah. Sorry, Neeks."

Helping Nico up the stairs was surprisingly easy, he was light and was awake enough to do most of it himself. "Nico, stay up here and sleep, please." he whispered, letting Nico into his old room and guiding him to the bed. "I'll wake you up when there's food, and then you can say hello to my mother."

Nico started to protest, but Will hushed him again, "Besides, I forgot to ask: is there anything that you're uncomfortable with? My mum really wasn't kidding when she said you would sleep in my room and like- I don't know if you're comfortable sharing a bed or hugging or anything like that. I just need to make sure I don't make you uncomfortable."

Nico grinned, "I'm okay with anything. Hug me, kiss me, I don't really care. I trust you." 

Will's eyes widened and his face turned red, "Yeah- yeah okay. I'm cool with anything, too, okay? Now go to sleep." he pulled the blankets over Nico, making sure he was comfortable before taking a breath: his mother was going to be insufferable. 

\-----

As it turns out, she wasn't any more insufferable than usual. Sure, she asked how they met ("Haha, funny story, really") and how they got together (they decided that it was at the Aphrodite party because it wasn't TECHNICALLY a lie.) Then she moved on, talking about her latest tour and record sales and what they were having for dinner. 

Will and her moved easily around the kitchen, a thing they had practiced for years while Will grew up and began helping in the kitchen. In fact, Will was carrying a pot of precariously boiling water over to the sink so he could strain the contents when Nico came down the stairs, rubbing his eyes tiredly. 

"Hey sunshine" Will said from behind a plume of steam, "You're just in time, I was about to come get you." Will said with a smile, pulling Nico into a one-armed hug, leaving a kiss in his hair. 

They pretended not to hear Naomi's coo. 

"You feeling better?"

Nico just nodded, tucking his face into the crook of Will's next. 

"You're not even awake-" Will snorted, guiding Nico away from the hot pans in the kitchen and towards the comfort of the couch. "Take a minute to wake up, yeah?" he asked, "You don't need to be so convincing, you know? Ma will believe anything."

Nico only hummed quietly, pulling away from Will in exchange for burying his face in a pillow. "Yeah, yeah. I know, Neeks. Eating food will help. I promise. It's almost done."

Nico still didn't let go of Will's shirt, "Forgot to take my binder off" he murmured quietly, biting his lip guiltily, "Im sorry-"

Will was quick to shrug off his sweatshirt, pushing it into Nico's hands, "The closet and dresser are both empty, you can put it in there. Please take it off." 

Nico nodded quietly, "Thank you" he said softly, kissing Will's cheek before darting out of the living room, back towards the stairs. 

Will was back in the kitchen a moment later, ignoring his mother's questions about where his shirt went in favor of loading up 3 plates and helping to set the table. "Eat, ma. I'll go check on him."

\---

Nico was struggling to say the least, his sluggish arms having a field day trying to pull the binder over his head. He couldn't remember the last time he took it off, and the fabric was tugging uncomfortably at the bruises it left. 

"Neeks? You alright?"

Nico sighed in defeat, the binder stuck over the swell of his shoulders, "I'm stuck."

Nico practically felt the confusion radiating from Will, "Stuck?" he pushed open the door, "Oh. Stuck."

Will was over to him in a second flat, "Can I help?" he asked softly, hands fluttering to Nico's exposed hips, tracing circles on the skin. 

“Yeah, i kinda need you to.”

Will was as gentle as he could be, spending a moment just rubbing Nico’s back once the clothing was off, trying to help with blood flow. “You’ve been wearing it too long.”

Nich sighed quietly, his arms crossed over his chest, but he leaned back against Will’s touch, “I told you it was an accident” he protested, whining quietly when Will accidentally dug his finger into a bruise during his impromptu massage.

“Sorry, sorry. Put a skirt on and-”

A scandalized gasp was heard from the doorway. “Ma?” Will asked, face red with embarrassment, “Mom, nothing was happening!” he insisted, sending Nico what he hoped was an encouraging smile as he followed his mother out of the room. 

“Ma, when he brought us here, he hurt himself. I was just looking at his back to make sure nothing serious happened”

Naomi grinned a little bit, “It’s none of my business what you and your boyfriend do, Will. Just be safe about it.”

Will sputtered for a moment, gaping at his mother, about to protest, but Nico was beside him, “Everything okay?” he asked, masking his whisper with a faux kiss on the cheek.

Will simply nodded, blinking away his embarrassment from his mother and guiding Nico to a chair. “Everything is fine, Sunshine, no need to worry your pretty little head. Eat, okay? We’ll see how you feel after”

It was kinda awkward, especially when Naomi shooed them off as soon as they were done, giving Will a wink and saying something about them going to their room. Oh gods, it was  _ their  _ room.

Will forgot about the only-one-bed issue.

It was already pretty late, so Will decided to just hug his mother good night and let her know that they would be down in the morning. “You take the bed, I’ll grab blankets and sleep on the ground.”

Nico frowned, “You’re not sleeping on the floor, Solace. Just- come up here with me.” Nico moved over, patting the empty bed beside him, “It’s okay, really.”

Will cautiously climbed into the bed beside Nico, “Are you sure?” he asked softly, “I can at least sleep at the other end of the bed-”

Nico just shrugged, “I kick in my sleep. It’s fine, this way i won’t be kicking you in the face.” he was grinning, wrapping his arms around Will, being careful not to get too close, “Good night, Will.”

\-----

(this is where they wake up and fuck as per fanfiction sharing-a-bed-au rules dictate, but I’m a rule breaker, so no <3)

It became habit. “Sunshine” replaced “Nico”. It was commonplace for them to be touching, holding hands, sitting in each other’s laps, even kisses on cheeks. Nobody questioned it, everybody thought they had been dating (Piper told the aphrodite cabin, the Aphrodite cabin told everyone else). Nico and Will were in too deep to be able to get out. They didn’t even care.

“Hey Neeks?”

Nico hummed, blinking a few times, fighting to stay awake.

“You wanna kiss?”

That woke Nico up in seconds, sputtering in disbelief. “I- uh… What?”

Will grinned, “Do you-” he pointed at Nico- “want to kiss-” he pressed two fingers to Nico’s lips, then moved them to his own- “me?”

Nico was still in disbelief, “Why?” he asked cautiously. Will must’ve fallen under some sort of curse or spell or something.

“Because I want to kiss you”

Oh, there went Nico’s heart.

“Yeah- uhm… Sure?” His heart was beating a mile a minute, and he was sure it was setting off Will’s ‘this person is in life threatening danger’ instincts, but he couldn’t help it.

Will moved slowly, gentle as usual. A hand came up to cup his jaw, thumb idly brushing over his lower lip, then the other brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Hi” Will whispered, like making sure Nico hadn’t floated away or something.

“Hi” Nico whispered back, quietly leaning against the hand on his cheek. 

Then Will kissed him. It didn’t last very long, but it was long enough for Nico to lose his breath, to forget his own name. Will was so warm, and apparently that trait didn’t stop at his lips. 

“Thank you.”

Nico blinked a few times, “Why are you thanking me??” he was appalled. Will had just given him the best kiss he had ever received (granted, it was also the second, and his first was with a girl he didn’t even like).

Will shrugged, not bothering to stop tracing Nico’s features with his thumb, “You know how pretty you are?”

Nico was red instantly, a smile spreading across his face, “You know everyone thinks we’re dating. And I know I said that I didn’t want to, but i only said that because you didn’t want to, y’know? And you just kissed me so now- I need to come clean, I guess… I like you, Will. As more than a friend.”

Will was smiling, carefully pulling Nico into another kiss, “c‘mere, dummy, of course I like you too.” 

They told Piper the truth. She didn’t believe them.

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy
> 
> I hate school <3
> 
> Send in any requests that you have!!!!


End file.
